Americans United - Clergy Voicehttp://www.au.org/tags/clergy-voice
enStreet Fight: Ohio Clergy Seeks End Of Tax Exemption For D.C. Structure Owned By ‘The Family’http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/street-fight-ohio-clergy-seeks-end-of-tax-exemption-for-dc-structure-owned
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Why does the secretive ‘C Street House’ hold a tax exemption as a church?</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>The infamous “C Street house” is back in the news.</p>
<p>A group of clergy in Ohio, aided by a tax lawyer, has written to the Internal Revenue Service today asking the federal tax agency to examine the house’s tax-exempt status as a church.</p>
<p>If you’re just joining us, the C Street house is a structure in Washington, D.C., owned by a shadowy Religious Right group called “The Family” – a.k.a. the Fellowship Foundation.</p>
<p>The house, formally called the C Street Center, is located near the U.S. Capitol on C Street S.E. Due to the Family’s <a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2009/09/behind-the-green-door.html ">penchant for secrecy</a>, it’s unclear what exactly goes on there. We do know that some rooms are rented out to members of Congress at a low rate, and it has been reported that Bible study and prayer meetings occur – but that hardly makes the place a church.</p>
<p>It would be more accurate to say that the C Street Center is a boarding house (or, in light of the recent string of sex scandals involving some of its residents, a frat house). So why does it hold a tax exemption as a church?</p>
<p>That’s what the Ohio clergy would like to know. In <a href="http://blog.au.org/alpha/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/C-Street-Center-complaint.pdf">their letter </a>to the IRS (which was drafted by Marcus Owens, a former IRS official), the members of Clergy Voice assert that the C Street house is “an exclusive club for powerful officials…masquerading as a church.”</p>
<p>The house, the clergy say, meets none of the tests the IRS has set forth to determine when a religious group qualifies for tax exemption.</p>
<p>“As we understand it, C Street Center has no recognized creed or form of worship, no distinct ecclesiastical government, and no formal code of doctrine,” observes the clergy letter. “To the best of our knowledge, it is not led by ordained ministers, and its leadership is not selected based on the completion of any prescribed studies for the preparation of ministers. We are not aware of it holding regular religious services that are open to the public, it has no Sunday schools for religious instruction of the young, and it has no <em>distinct</em> religious history.”</p>
<p>Clergy Voice asserts that the C Street Center is really a boarding house and concludes, “An organization whose chief activity is providing room and board to Members of Congress is not a church.”</p>
<p>The Rev. Eric Williams, senior pastor at North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, told <em>The Washington Post</em> he considers this a matter of church-state separation, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204511.html ">noting that the Family</a> has used the house to gain undue influence over members of Congress.</p>
<p>“We’ve got an organization posing as a church,” Williams said.</p>
<p>City officials in Washington, D.C., have already decided to take a second look at the C Street house’s tax-exempt status. As a result, the city’s tax office decided last year to <a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2009/12/religious-rights-secretive.html ">partially tax the house</a>, which is worth $1.8 million.</p>
<p>It’s time for the IRS to do the same. Clergy Voice is asking some important question. The IRS should, too.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/c-street-house">C Street house</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/clergy-voice">Clergy Voice</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/eric-williams">Eric Williams</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fellowship-foundation-0">Fellowship Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/internal-revenue-service-irs">Internal Revenue Service (IRS)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marcus-owens">Marcus Owens</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-and-politics">Religion and politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family">The Family</a></span></div></div>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:55:34 +0000Rob Boston1922 at http://www.au.orghttp://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/street-fight-ohio-clergy-seeks-end-of-tax-exemption-for-dc-structure-owned#comments